Room Escape Artist

“ If you happen to love both Blood on the Clocktower and reality television, now is your time to shine.”

The reality show Survivor loves to open with a splash—literally. The most famous opening episodes start by having contestants jumping off a ship while trying to grab anything useful they’ll need to survive the next month stranded in a deserted locale. Survivor calls this a “marooning,” but in today’s episode of PG’s Playhouse, David tells us about real life maroonings and what the term originally meant. David delves into the historical context and a specific case of marooning involving the pirate Edward England.

All Star Survivor contestant, author, and blogger Stephen Fishbach joins us again. He tells us about his new novel Escape! which features a has-been reality TV star and a disgraced producer who gets one last shot at redemption on a show set on a remote island. We also talk about his YouTube series where Survivor contestants play Blood on the Clocktower.

Our game today is “Blood on the Television” where Stephen must guess which Blood on the Clocktower character is on which reality TV show.

Make sure to check out Stephen’s new novel, Escape!, coming out this January.

YouTube: Survivors Play Blood on the Clocktower

Time Stamps

• 01:55 Game: Blood on the Television
• 10:59 About Stephen’s Blood on the Clocktower YouTube series
• 16:10 About Stephen’s Novel: Escape!
• 19:24 Topic: Maroonings
• 26:36 Credits

Guest: Stephen Fishbach

Stephen Fishbach is a Pushcart Prize–winning writer and former television executive. A two-time Survivor contestant (voted onto the show the second time by more than ten million fans), he’s worked on the network side as a vice president at MTV and freelanced for a reality producers’ trade group.

He cohosts a weekly Survivor podcast as well as the literary podcast Paraphrase. Stephen graduated with honors from Yale and received an MFA in fiction at NYU. In 2009 he was named one of People magazine’s hottest bachelors. His short story “To Sharks”—an excerpt from Escape!—was published by One Story and garnered Stephen the Pushcart Prize. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and two daughters.

Stephenfishback.com

Survivor Know It Alls YouTube

More Podcasts from Peih-Gee & David

If you enjoy PG’s Playhouse, check out Reality Escape Pod (REPOD), where your hosts David Spira & Peih-Gee Law explore immersive gaming from all angles, alongside guests with incredible experience in this realm.

And by supporting Room Escape Artist on Patreon, you’ll get access to the REPOD Bonus After Show ($5 per month and up) and the Spoilers Club ($15 per month and up) where we chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms… spoilers and all!

Production Credits

• Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira
• Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law
• Produced by Theresa Piazza
• Supported by Lisa Spira
• Edited by Peih-Gee Law
• Music by Matt Farthing
• Logo by Theresa Wagner